Around 15 Naxals were also possibly killed when CRPF personnel retaliated during the Maoist ambush in a remote area, about 300 km from here, Chhattisgarh DGP Viswa Ranjan told PTI.

The bodies of the Naxals have however not been found.

Naxalites are known to take away the bodies of their cadres killed in encounters with security forces.

Around 100 Naxals who struck with automatic rifles were involved in the "major ambush" and the gunbattle lasted for two to three hours, police said.

The death toll in Tuesday's third major Naxal attack on security personnel in Chhattisgarh in as many months rose to 27 after the body of a CRPF constable Neeraj Kumar who was missing was found by search parties on Wednesday.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, who convened an emergency meeting to take stock of the situation, has said the sacrifices of the security personnel will not go in vain.

"The security personnel have laid down their lives to free the people from Naxal terror. Their sacrifice will not go in vain," Singh said.

"The Naxals have carried out a cowardly act. People and groups having faith in human rights should condemn this act of murder in once voice," he said, vowing to end the Maoist menace in the state.

"The extremists lack moral courage to engage in a direct fight with our brave security forces," he said, while conveying his condolences to members of the bereaved families.

The bodies of 26 CRPF personnel were brought here on Wednesday after they were airlifted from the scene of the Maoist attack.

After the postmortems, the bodies were sent to the police training institute in Mana near here where tributes were paid to the victims.

Search operations have begun in Naryanpur's Daurai Road and adjacent areas where the dastardly attack took place which also left eight personnel including four special officers of Chhattisgarh Police injured, Ranjan said.

CRPF Director General Vikram Srivastava and other top police officers have reached the spot to review the situation and operations.

A large number of heavily-armed Maoists, perched on a hilltop, had opened fire with automatic weapons on a 63-member security contingent which was returning on foot from road opening duty yesterday. The dead included a CRPF Assistant Commandant and two sub-inspectors.

The Maoists had massacred 76 policemen in Chhattisgarh in a similar assault on April 6. On May 17, a Maoist landmine attack on a bus killed 24 civilians and 11 policemen.

BJP demands to know inputs given by Sonia on Naxal issue

Accusing the UPA of speaking in "conflicting" voices on Naxal violence and "undermining the morale" of security forces, BJP asked National Advisory Council Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to come clear on what advice she gave to the Central government on the issue.

"BJP would like to know about the inputs provided by NAC and its chairperson Sonia Gandhi to the government in this regard. Why is the developmental thrust envisaged to counter the Naxalite influence being diluted?" BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said in New Delhi.

He wondered why important functionaries within the government and Congress were speaking with a "forked tongue" and questioning the need for adopting a strong posture against mindless loss of life of commoners in Naxalite violence.

Hussain said such behaviour undermined the morale of the nation and that of the security forces fighting this menace.

He insisted that BJP did not believe in playing politics on the issue of Naxalism but was saddened to "notice a stark divergence of opinions, confusion and ad-hocism in government's approach".

"Lack of clear-cut policy and directives, coupled with knee-jerk reactions have emboldened the Naxalites... and an incoherent approach has gravely diluted the fight. This sense of drift is compounded by conflicting statements from ministers and Congress office-bearers," Hussain claimed.

The main opposition party maintained that it had been emphasising on the need for formulating a multi-pronged strategy against Naxalism and even extended full support to the Home Minister and government in this regard.

Strongly condemning Tuesday's Naxal attack in Narayanpur in Chhattisgarh which claimed the lives of 26 CRPF personnel, Hussain asserted that Maoists are "murderers and marauders whose sole agenda is to undermine the democratic polity and development process in the country".

"We must re-iterate that the fight against Naxalism must be seen as a national endeavor and the affected states must be assisted in every possible way to counter this menace," Hussain said.

He maintained that media and intellectuals should "firm up" the national resolve to fight the scourge.

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